The proposed study focuses on "family style" in child-abusive families and coping style in abused children. Family style is conceptualized as the pattern of attitudes and interpersonal relations within the family along particular dimensions. Coping behaviors are defined as strategies for achieving mastery and self-gratification. In addition, the impact of external stress on the lives of abusive families will be assessed. A comparison is planned of abusive families with non- abusive families on the dimensions of family style. Income level will be controlled. The coping behaviors of abused and non-abused children will also be compared. A variety of structured and unstructured testing situations will be used to assess the variables of interest. These situations will include parent interviews, structured individual assessments of the children, parent-child interactions, group interactions for children, and group interactions for adults. The scores derived from these data will be analyzed using factor analytic and correlational techniques for the purposes of answering certain questions: is child-abuse indicative of particular family style? Is child-abuse or the family style related to coping behavior in the children?